After the success of the sales of Firepower, we have expanded our lineup of development books by adding “Can Openers”, which can likely be considered as “Hunnicutt by role instead of by platform.”

Hardback, about 240 pages long, some $53 plus shipping, and filled with reports and photographs taken primarily from Ordnance Branch and Tank Destroyer Board archives, most of it previously unpublished, it traces the development of anti-tank vehicles from the 37mm Gun Motor Carriage T2 through to the 90mm Self-Propelled Anti-Tank Gun M56 Scorpion. The bonus code coming with the book, for PC, is for an M56. It does not cover the deployment and use of the vehicle, only the technical development of the designs and the decisionmaking behind that development.

Hopefully the following images should give you an idea of the tone.

Since I am a new author in the field, obviously there may be questions as to whether or not it’s of quality and worth the money. e-Copies have been sent out to various folks, some for input (Harry Yeide, author of “The Tank Killers” has written the foreword, Steve Zaloga gave me some additional resources to add in), and some for review. As any reviews get published, I’ll be sure to link to them on myFacebook page.

In the interests of getting the books into folks’ hands by Christmas, we’re doing things a little differently this time around due to the short fuse. People who have received both the WoT version of Firepower, and the Print-on-Demand versions of the other Hunnicutt reprints by Echo Point have verified that the decision to do a batch-print using the offset printing technique did, indeed, result in a superior quality printing, and sales numbers were such that we are confident that we can ship a batch large enough to justify offset printing for this book as well. As a result, as you are reading this, the production process has already started on a print run of a size similar to that of Firepower’s. As orders come in, books will be allocated from this first run. The intent is for the books to be printed and shipped in early December, so you can give that loved tanks-player in your life a nice package under the tree.

Theorders page, which should be live tomorrow (Monday) will remain open, however, at least through early January. If we overestimated the sales, orders will be shipped from the first print run stock when they come in. If we underestimated, we’re going to wait as long as possible until we have a sufficient order backlog to make a second print run also using the offset printing technique.

Finished product should look something a bit like this, to look good next to Firepower.

Finally, there were a few (about two dozen) copies of the Firepower WoT edition which remained in the warehouse. If you missed it, you can save yourself a few dollars on the shipping cost by getting both at once.

Very interesting, I will defiantly order this once i save up the money for it.

Would I be able to have you sign the book for a few extra dollars? lol

I do have a few questions about the development of American TD's

M36B1

What led to to decision (and who thought) of placing the M36 turret onto a M4A3 hull to create the M36B1, what was the general opinion of the crews who received the B1, what are the performance statics for the B1, how successful was the B1 in combat, and why didn;t they think of making minior adjustments so it be adopted as it's own separate TD or maybe adopted as a new version of the Sherman?

M18 Hellcat

During the development of the Hellcat, why did they choose to stay with the Wright R-975 Whirlwind, and not switch, to something like the Ford GAA? It would seem to me that the GAA would be a better choice as an engine because it had more horsepower, it was around almost the whole time the Hellcat was in development, and has none of the problems of a radial engine.

Note: This was the original post I intended to put here, but for whatever reason, the forum screwed up to show something completely different, forcing me to write this stuff all over again.

What led to to decision (and who thought) of placing the M36 turret onto a M4A3 hull to create the M36B1, what was the general opinion of the crews who received the B1, what are the performance statics for the B1, how successful was the B1 in combat, and why didn;t they think of making minior adjustments so it be adopted as it's own separate TD or maybe adopted as a new version of the Sherman?

M18 Hellcat

During the development of the Hellcat, why did they choose to stay with the Wright R-975 Whirlwind, and not switch, to something like the Ford GAA? It would seem to me that the GAA would be a better choice as an engine because it had more horsepower, it was around almost the whole time the Hellcat was in development, and has none of the problems of a radial engine.

Note: This was the original post I intended to put here, but for whatever reason, the forum screwed up to show something completely different, forcing me to write this stuff all over again.

From the book...

"The urgent requirement for GMC M36 and Medium Tank T26 (Heavy Tank T26E1) was set out by the Director of the Production Division, Army Service Forces in a memorandum dated 10 July 1944, and a meeting in Detroit the following day laid out plans for increasing production of M36 and also converting 187 M4A3 medium tanks into gun motor carriages in order to make up for a shortfall in production capability." In a nutshell, they simply needed more 90mm SPGs, and that was the way to do it. I haven't encountered any reports on the use of the B1, nor was I particularly looking for them.

And...

"The Wright required the change to a front sprocket configuration, using the M7’s controlled differential, and also a hump in the hull rear which limited depression in that arc and also raised the silhouette of the vehicle a little. On the plus side, the move meant that the vehicle could be 5” shorter. It was anticipated that in the long run that the radial would be withdrawn from use, and replaced in production by the Ford V8, but there was some abundance of caution in TD Branch at this point and it was decided to wait and see if the Armored Force decided that they were satisfied with the engine in the tanks before installing it into their premier TD."

"The urgent requirement for GMC M36 and Medium Tank T26 (Heavy Tank T26E1) was set out by the Director of the Production Division, Army Service Forces in a memorandum dated 10 July 1944, and a meeting in Detroit the following day laid out plans for increasing production of M36 and also converting 187 M4A3 medium tanks into gun motor carriages in order to make up for a shortfall in production capability." In a nutshell, they simply needed more 90mm SPGs, and that was the way to do it. I haven't encountered any reports on the use of the B1, nor was I particularly looking for them.

And...

"The Wright required the change to a front sprocket configuration, using the M7’s controlled differential, and also a hump in the hull rear which limited depression in that arc and also raised the silhouette of the vehicle a little. On the plus side, the move meant that the vehicle could be 5” shorter. It was anticipated that in the long run that the radial would be withdrawn from use, and replaced in production by the Ford V8, but there was some abundance of caution in TD Branch at this point and it was decided to wait and see if the Armored Force decided that they were satisfied with the engine in the tanks before installing it into their premier TD."

Just ordered mine and Hunniutt's Firepower to save on shipping, as was suggested. I missed out on Firepower the first time around and am glad that there were a few extra copies available. I'm really looking forward to reading through these being an engineer. Congrats Chief on the new book!

I am totally not being snarky about this, but a die cast model of one of the open-topped TDs on the cover would make a great can-opener/bottle-opener souvenir to go with the book. I know it's too late this printing...

Congrats on what looks to be a fine book. Can't wait to get my hands on one. Echo Point has a slot for a coupon code when ordering this book. I could sure use one... Can I find one somewhere, or if you would private message me one, it'd be appreciated.